ZonePerfect Well-Being Essentials Kit Winner!

Congratulations to LaTanya for winning a Well-Being Essentials Kit from ZonePerfect! LaTanya, please check your email!

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Blog Forward Challenge 2014 by ZonePerfect #3 and GIVEAWAY!

It's September, and I have no idea where August went. Actually, that's not entirely true, since August was filled with finals, final papers, and studying for National Boards Part II. That's one way to make a month fly by in a chaotic mess of studying, stress, and not much else. Well, studying, stress, food, and working out, because there's always room for food and the gym. So, let's check up on those ZonePerfect Blog Forward New Year's Resolutions, shall we?

Spartan Race Free Entry Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Alberto for winning a free entry to a 2014 Spartan Race! Alberto, please check your email!

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Spartan Race and GIVEAWAY!

One of my more popular posts to date has been an article that I wrote on what I called "cross-obstacle races." Since I wrote that post, a number of similar events that combine running with strength and balance challenging obstacles have cropped up. One such event is the Reebok Spartan Race.

ZonePerfect Portable Charger giveaway winner!

Congratulations to Arena for winning the ZonePerfect portable charger! Arena, please get in contact with me with your address.

Thanks to everyone for participating, and stay tuned, because I have another giveaway coming up soon!

Blog Forward Challenge 2014 by ZonePerfect #2 and GIVEAWAY!

Well, that was a bit of a hiccup in blog updates. I am fairly sure that last trimester was the toughest one yet (my last blog post began with "next week begins finals," so we all knew these sparse updates were coming), and then this girl got engaged (congratulations Molly Pritz and Max Stein!), so when break finally came, I was a little preoccupied. So, you may remember earlier this year, I joined the ZonePerfect Blog Forward Challenge and posted up a few New Year's Resolutions for 2014. Well, now it's May, and it's time to do a self-assessment!

Mizuno Wave Rider 17 giveaway winner!

Congratulations to Jason, who won a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 17s! Jason, please get in contact with me with your size and address. Thanks to everyone who participated!

Gear Review: Mizuno Wave Rider 17 and GIVEAWAY!

The Mizuno Wave Rider has been a mainstay in the neutral running category for as long as I can remember. Seriously, the first Rider was introduced in 1998, and I didn't start running until '99. And I'd bet there are some young'uns reading this review who are actually younger than the Rider! In an industry that seems to have remarkably high shoe model turnover, for a shoe to last that long without being discontinued or replaced, it must be a fairly successful shoe. This holds especially true for Mizuno, who currently seems to be in the process of hacking down its line, with the Elixir and Precision being consolidated into the Sayonara, the Ronin and Musha being replaced by the Hitogami, and the Nirvana and Alchemy being discontinued in favor of the Paradox. That's not to say the Rider hasn't hit any stumbling blocks, with the original Rider being a bulky nightmare nicknamed the "Kiss boot," and even the relatively recent Rider 14 getting a lot of negative backlash from longtime Rider fans. After the Rider 14 debacle, Mizuno returned to more familiar territory with the Rider 15. Two iterations later, Mizuno hasn't strayed far from that formula, introducing a familiar, yet much lighter, Mizuno Wave Rider 17.

Mizuno Wave Sayonara giveaway winner!

Congratulations Zach! I've emailed you, so please get back to me with your contact information.

Gear Review: Mizuno Wave Sayonara and GIVEAWAY!

Up until now, Mizuno has offered two performance trainers: the neutral Wave Precision and mild stability Wave Elixir. However, with everyday trainers getting lighter and lighter, there was increasing overlap between the 9.9oz Wave Rider and 9.6oz Wave Precision (I'm not sure whether Mizuno felt the 10.1oz Wave Inspire was encroaching on the 8.8oz Wave Elixir or if they just wanted to streamline their line). So instead of slimming down its current performance trainers, Mizuno went back to the drawing board, seeking to create a new neutral performance trainer that still had enough inherent stability as to not disappoint Elixir fans. The new shoe is the Wave Sayonara, a lightweight shoe with a clever name that gives a nod to the old Wave Goodbye racing flat of the early 2000s (interestingly enough, today's Wave Sayonara performance trainer is lighter than yesterday's 8.7oz Wave Goodbye racing flat).

FrogFuel giveaway winner! (Also The Ultimate Beginner's Running Guide winner that I forgot to post)

Congratulations to Stephanie Ann for winning the FrogFuel Performance Protein Shot tasting pack giveaway! I've emailed you, so please get back to me with your contact information.

Gear Review: FrogFuel Performance Protein Shot and GIVEAWAY!

 

After hard workouts, I generally like to get some protein in my body. Ideally, I'd have some eggs and toast or oatmeal with whey protein, but neither of those are very convenient things to take on-the-go. There are protein shakes, which are nice to bring to class, but if I don't have time to go back to my room and make one, I'm not about to let one of those sit in the sun while I do a track workout (I know some of you like chocolate milk, but that's no good to have out of the fridge either, plus chocolate milk really never appeals to me post-workout). Energy and/or protein bars are great for this, since they're convenient to throw in a bag and bring on-the-go...and now FrogFuel Performance has introduced another option for busy athletes: FrogFuel Performance Protein Shots.

GIVEAWAY! The Ultimate Beginner's Running Guide: The Key to Running Inspired

A little while ago, I reviewed The Ultimate Beginner's Running Guide: The Key to Running Inspired by Ryan Robert. When I wrote the review, it was only available digitally, as an e-book. However, it is now available in a print paperback edition, and Robert has generously donated two books to raffle off to readers of The Middle Miles! To enter, check out the giveaway below. Contest ends 5/2/13 at midnight Eastern time, and is open to anyone in the United States, Canada, and Europe.


a Rafflecopter giveaway



For those of you who prefer books digitally, the digital version of The Ultimate Beginner's Running Guide: The Key to Running Inspired has dropped in price to 99 cents and is available on Amazon. The print edition retails for $14.99 (though it's currently available for $13.49) and is also available on Amazon.

PRO Compression Contest Winner!

And the winner of the PRO Compression Marathon Sock giveaway is...Julie R! Julie, I have emailed you at the address you provided, so please get in contact with me. Thanks!

Gear Review: PRO Compression Marathon Socks and GIVEAWAY!

Compression is a pretty hot topic in endurance sports these days. When Paula Radcliffe made her record-setting run in 2003, few people knew what the story behind her knee-high socks. Today, you see nearly as many athletes using compression socks and sleeves as you do athletes who don't, whether it's during activity or for recovery. The medical industry figured out the benefits of compression a while ago, and it makes sense that athletes looking for an edge can take advantage of some of those same benefits. Today, there are even companies that specialize in compression for athletes. One such company is PRO Compression, who offers the PRO Compression Marathon Socks.

Flotrack's Saucony Kinvara 3 contest

So Flotrack is having a Kinvara 3 design contest. So if you like playing with Photoshop, get on that! And if you don't like playing with Photoshop, you should vote for my design! (Actually you should go look at all the entries and vote for the one you like rather than just voting for me without looking at the others, but if you do think mine is cool, I'd certainly appreciate you giving mine a Like or a Tweet!)

Another Contest! (not mine this time though)

Just giving you guys a heads up that Molly Pritz is running a contest on her blog for anyone who can guess her finishing time at the San Francisco Half. If you need something to work with, her stats are here, though keep in mind she's not tapered for this one. Good luck!

Click here for details and to enter!

Mezamashii Contest Winners!

I was absolutely blown away by the response to the Mizuno Mezamashii giveaway. All in all, there were 256 entries (minus a few that I'll discuss in the next paragraph) for two spots on the Mezamashii Project. I enjoyed reading about all of your Brilliant Runs, as well as hearing what kind of shoes you guys would want, so thanks to everyone for participating! And of course, thanks to Mizuno for sponsoring the Mezamashii Project!

In case you're all wondering how this worked, I used RANDOM.ORG to generate a random number, then figured out which comment corresponded to that number. Seems fair, and seems to be how all the other blogs do it, so if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. There were a few deleted comments, and at least one joke comment (thanks a lot, Nicole!), so I had to see if the deleted comments figured into the comment count (they did). Thus, I figured if I landed on one of them I'd just pick another random number. Luckily, this wasn't an issue and I was able to just use the first two numbers I picked.

The Mezamashii Project and Free Shoes Giveaway! CONTEST CLOSED

As you may have heard by now, Mizuno is starting up The Mezamashii Project. This is Mizuno's way of reaching out to runners, getting some shoes on people's feet with the confidence that they'll like 'em enough to be repeat customers.